2014 Nissan Pathfinder gear selector stuck
 

Jerry Komor     

This will work for the same generation of the Pathfinder but it may apply to other models with similar gear selector or shifter for others. If it helps someone slightly... fantastic

.So you got into your truck one day, started your car made the seatbelt click, put your hand on the shifter pressed the release button and pulled on the handle back to put it into gear so you can get out of your driveway or parking spot. And  woa, what happened, gremlins, someone planning joke on you. NO its that cheep Nissan decision putting that under rated micro switch inside the shifter mechanism just to save couple pennies cause they can so they can keep it in their bank account. Yah couple pennies is not much but multiplying that by 50 thousand that makes good lunch money. You do that for couple other dozen of other parts and other models, well now you are talking lobster dinner and then some
Good going Nissan.

So what do you do, call Nissan to see if they can take a look at your brocken car, you call your favorite tow driver and get your car towed into the dealer so they can tell you that you after their $135 diagnosis that it needs a brand new shifter assembly cause its messed up.
You being happy that they can fix it, your wallet goes on diet $135 for diagnosis and another $480 for the shifter assembly, plus their 2 hour labor @ probably $65 an hour and then uncle Sam gets taxes for all of that.

Well for you that have no problem separating your wallet from your hard earned cash and getting thinner a bit, that's great and good for you.
For anyone else that has couple of basic tools and are bit mechanically inclined and not afraid of taking couple of hours out of your busy time away from watching TV, well, you can fix it very easily for about $5  or less depending on where you get the messed up part.
Well the hole problem is with tiny switch buried deep under the shifter. Nissan in their infinite wizdom put an under rated switch and though mechanical and electrical durability is rated for 30,000,000 mechanical and 200,000 electrical cycles. Well the bad news is that you will never come close to those specifications during the life of the car. However the switch is rated for 100mA that can go through those contacts. The bad news is that the  lock-out solenoid and though its at the 100mA limit to be activated is sufficient..... barely. The bad part is that the inrush current can be as much as 20 times making it about 2 amps. So the arc generated on the tiny contacts in the switch burn them when it engages then burns it again when it disengages and after few years you can say bye bye switch. So now you have options, get it fixed at dealer and for those that are smart enough you get that tiny plug out and use your extra straw from your favorite McDanolds beverage or a pen, put it in that hole depress it and put your car into gear and you are on your marry way. Now you can use your car like that, get it fixed dealer or somewhere else or fix it your self.

Oh I'm going to fast and you said solenoid what? micro switch.... wait a second

OK, OK

Micro switch is a switch just like one on the wall but much smaller hence "micro"

A solenoid is like magnet, in this case an electric magnet. What it is, its a device that has wire wound onto a small core making coil and with a metal freely moving rod inside. When you apply current to the coil it creates magnetic field and pulls the metal into the center of the coil. In certain configurations the metal is replaced with a permanent magnet making the coil much stronger.

Now you say, what is involved so I can fix it.
First you will need to find a new micro switch. One Nissan uses Omron SS-01GL13-AQ6 switch. Omron brand is of good quality and you can stay with same brand of switch. However what you will need is Omron SS-5GL13-AQ6 which is rated for 5amps. There are other brands that manufacture similar dimensions of switches you just have to make sure its rated for 5 amps so you will never have to do this again.


You will need  

  • SS-5GL13-AQ6
  • 10mm socket wrench
  • star screw driver
  • pliers or sort of pick to pull spring out of the shift knob
  • soldering iron or 3mm crimp connectors though soldering is strongly advised if you dont want the connectors popping off the switch
  • about 2 hours of your time (being generous). If you are not comfortable you can take bit extra time.

The process if very simple, if you are not comfortable taking your car apart move slowly.
Click on pictures to enlarge them

- Before you start, move front seats forward as much as possible. Then go into the back, put your hand under the center console and gently pull it back. It will pop off from friction mounts. now pull it off on top right by arm rest. Depending on your model there will up to 3 connectors that will need to be disconnected. There are small tabs on those connectors, they will need to be depressed and you will be able to pull them out of the plugs. Take the panel and stowed it somewhere safe ie trunk is great place just behind the rear seats.
On very bottom corners on each side there are 2 10mm bolts you need to remove and release back mounting of the center console. stow those bolts to the side as they will be needed when you re-assemble the console


- Now move to the front. Grab the silver trim on bottom part of the shift knob and push it down, It will drop down about an inch. take your pliers or a pic of what ever you have. In the front there is a black spring that will need to be pulled out. Don't loose it, you will need it. With it out pull the knob up and the trim. Put the spring back onto the knob and snap back the trim on top of the knob. Be care full of the 2 pins on bottom, they are for overdrive for the transmission.
 
- Bit scary stuff. Press your parking break and make sure car will not roll back or forward. Would be ideal if you park on flat driveway so it will not roll back or forward. If you want put something behind one of the wheels for safety.
With that said. Just like the back panel, you will need to pull up on the center trim of the console. Grab drink holders and gently pull it up. Friction clips will pop out of the holes and the trim will be released. there are couple of those clips in the back and couple in the front around the coin tray.
There will be couple connectors under that panel so be care full and don't just pull it like you are some green giant and rip wires out of those connectors. Again depending on the trim level of your car you will have back light for your gear selector indicator, you may have traction control knob for 2 or 4 wheel drive and 2 connectors for seat warmers. there are clips in center of those connectors that will need to be depressed before they will be released. traction control connector will be bit of a pain to remove as the clip is right against some of the plastic molding so you will need a small screw driver or a pick in helping having it depressed.
with the cables disconnected you can remove the panel and stow it in safe place that will not get damaged.
Tip note: with the panel off in front of the shifter there is a white plastic manual over-ride lever that you can push down to release the park lock out. If you do that and pull the shifter back it will be much easier to maneuver the trim panel.

- Next there will be large cable connector with foam wrapped wires, actually there are several individual ones and will vary from trim level to trim level. You need to disconnect all of them all.
You need to remove the rubber lining in the coin tray
to reveal 2 screws that need to be removed.
You also need to remove 2 screws that are holding 2 brackets on top and bottom of the shifter assembly.
The console is now free and can be removed.
Its a bit heavy but mostly will be awkward as you will need to lift back of it up and pull it backwards slightly. Be care full and lift it out. You can put it on back seat to be safe.
You can now remove the small bracket that was under the coin tray, There are 2 screws on each side.
its not necessary but it will help moving the shifter assembly. Keep in mind orientation of the bracket as it will have to go back in.









- Now the fun part and where the we need to be.
First disconnect the connector from the shifter.
there are 4 10mm nuts that need to be removed and thats the the socket or wrench comes to use again.
Once the nuts are removed the shifter assembly can be lifted of the studs and flipped on right side.


















- With the shifter assembly on the side. Switch in blue circle with yellow wires, is park switch to tell the computer you moved shifter out of park and disable the solenoid (green wire on the 6 wire connector) so it will not engage when you brake every time or stop at red light. It also tells the computer sounder to make that annoying sound when you shut your car off and leave it in gear while door is open.
that white thing in green circle is the manual release of the shifter so when your battery dies and you need to move the car you can take it out of park or in this case put the car in gear and be able to drive.
And that blue thing in yellow circle is the solenoid that releases the shifter out of park when you press brake pedal.

With that short whats that class lets get to work.
First disconnect the small connector with those 2 green wires on bottom. The connector will be clipped in a holder keeping it safe from being rubbed and damaged. Next make sure the shifter is in drive as to release pressure from lever on the bottom switch. There are 2 small tabs marked in purple that you need to squeeze inwards very gently. The holder that holds the switch will either drop out or you may need to give a small tag in order to fall out.


- On to the business
the old switch needs to be removed from the holder which again is help by clips on sides. Very gingerly spread them apart and pull the switch out. Unsolder the 2 wires from the old switch and solder it to the new switch. There are 3 terminals on the switch so please pay attention when soldering them back.
Call it lazy, to cheep or whatever. personally I could not wait to have new one ordered and did not wanted drive to electronic store to get new one. Had old one I pulled from something long time ago not exactly alike so had to bend the lever slightly so that it will trip the switch at exact point when the lever is depressed. After couple times trying to get it into exact shape got it right on the money.
When using exact replacement switch and same lever configuration, you will not have to make any adjustments.

With the new switch in place you can reassemble everything in the reverse order.
- Clip
the switch with holder back into the shifter assembly.
- Reconnect the green connector and reinsert connector into the clip
- remount the assembly with the 4 nuts back and reconnect the shifter assembly 6 pin connector
As a test, make sure the shifter is in park position, press start button twice. As safety you don't need to start the car. press brake pedal, you should hear the solenoid click disengaging lock and you should be able to shift into gear. Solenoid should disengage once its out of park. If it does not work, you will need to make sure the wires are soldered to C and NO terminals on the microswitch. Make sure connector is plugged in on the shifter assembly.
If it checks out continue on with reassembly.
- if you removed the coin tray bracket, mount it back.
- next is the center console. It makes it much easier if the shifter is moved all the way back closest to arm rest in 1st gear.
- Gently lower the center console
- Bolt it in the back first as it will be much easier at this time.
- Screw the 2 brackets into the shifter assembly and in the coin tray. replace the rubber ligning
- Tighten the back bolts. While there you can put the back panel back in but first plug the connectors back in
- reconnect all the remaining connectors in center around the shifter
- reconnect top cover around and snap it into place
- Lastly snap the shifter knob back

After you throw that fountain straw, enjoy your hard work and go for a drive to your dealer telling them how much you spend on the repair